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Elizabeth Roxas

Elizabeth Roxas

Residency in Dance Guest Artist, 2012

Elizabeth Roxas was born in Manila and became the youngest member of Ballet Philippines. After receiving scholarships to Joffrey, Graham and The Ailey School, she danced with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Ohad Naharin and Joyce Trisler Dance Company before joining Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater where she was a principal dancer from 1984-1998. The New York Times described her as “a cool, still, lyrical center of the Ailey storm.” While dancing, Roxas worked with many of the most significant choreographers, including, Alvin Ailey, Katherine Dunham, Jerome Robbins, Talley Beatty, Lar Lubavitch, John Butler, Ulysses Dove and Judith Jamison. Roxas performed in the Emmy award-winning PBS specials “Two by Dove” and Judith Jamison’s “A Hymn for Alvin Ailey” among others, and was featured in a 1997 Dance Magazine cover article and named by Avenue Magazine as one of the 500 most influential Asian-Americans. After leaving Ailey as a dancer, Roxas performed on Broadway in The King and I as Eliza and made several guest appearances in the United States and abroad before she turned full time to teaching. She has worked with Anna Deveare Smith at the Graduate School of New York University and is currently Movement Coach for Ms. Smith’s new show “Let Me Down Easy”. She has choreographed in regional theaters and off Broadway and restages ballets of Alvin Ailey works. In addition to her work with Ms. Smith, Roxas teaches the Horton Technique at The Ailey School, as well as the Actors Studio Class. She is married to Robert Dobrish, a prominent matrimonial attorney in Manhattan.